Shui Hsien Organic Oolong

I made this and H&S’s Florence this morning and thought I’d better drink this one first before my taste buds were corrupted by nommy flavoured tea.

I wasn’t sure about this one, but figured it’s a sample and a quick sipdown so why not get on it? And it’s great! Why do I always forget how great non-black teas are?

This really smells like honey, and it’s sweet, and tastes a bit like straw and grass. This is really gentle and delicious. It’s also a little toasy! I immediately want 4 more cups!

I’ll have to re-order this from Zen or somewhere else!

This was a free sample that came with my Xmas order. :) :) :) I don’t usually go for oolongs overmuch, but this was great & hit the spot this morning. Trying to cut back on coffee.

I was a bit heavy handed with this one, accidentally filling my 120 ml pot almost full with slightly more than 6 g of leaf. I steeped it at 195F for 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

Prior to steeping, this tea smells like a generic woody/roasted Wuyi oolong. The first steep gives notes of honey, roast, and walnut shells. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the astringent mess I was expecting based on the leaf quantity. In the second steep, hay, wood, and light florals emerge. The third steep has even stronger hay and honey notes, and I’d swear there was stevia in there if I didn’t know better. Later rounds get less sweet and bring out minerals and roasted nuts.

This is a nice, very sweet dark oolong, and while I don’t think I’ll buy more, I’m glad I got a sample.

Trying to go through samples – This one was from when Zen Tea did a big sale a while back and I ordered tons of samples. It was alright, though I wasn’t the biggest fan of it. This is my first Shui Xian/Shui Hsien. The dry leaf smelled a bit roasy with fruity, raisin notes. After a rinse, the only aroma I could really detect was charcoal roastiness.

The first steep was grossly sour and roasty with a bit of almost chocolatey sweetness left in my mouth after the cup. Thankfully that sourness was mostly gone by the next steep, and I got some more classic yancha notes including a mineral and a honey taste. There were also very slight hints of a chocolatey flavor throughout. The sourness that kind of stuck with the tea in a much more mild way than in the first steep became sort of a nutty astringent flavor like walnuts. This reminded me a lot of a Da Hong Pao. Pretty decent, but I think the roast is still a little bit intense for me, which is weird because it can’t be all that freshly roasted, as I’ve had it for a few months already.

This taste like a black tea, looks like a black tea, and smells like a black tea… but dang, it is good!
Strong and brisk cup of joy that wakes me up with every sip :)

Really enjoying this one.

mmmmm this is exactly what I needed after vacation. A nice smoky bold hot pot of tea. The small leaves are black twisted BOP. The aroma of the leaf is a dry nutty scent. I place a generous amount in my yixing, and I inhaled a smooth buttery roasted nut aroma. I brewed up numerous cups of this delicious brew. The liquor was a glistening crimson,, and the taste was so good! I could taste smoke, wood, walnuts, and a sweet smooth aftertaste. This was bomb!

’Here’s Hoping’ Teabox Round #4 – Tea #11

Dark oolong for this dark weathered day. I don’t think I’ve seen dark oolongs like this one before. The leaves almost look like a black tea, rather than like a bundled green oolong that is roasted. Usually this type of tea is not to my taste, but this one is delicious. The light amber brew has a sweet, roasted, nutty, buttery flavor… not as distinctly charcoal flavored as a Fujian oolong typically is for me. So that’s a great thing! Less of the charcoal flavor and more of the good stuff! This one and one other Fujian oolong are the only two of this type of tea I could see stocking up on, so this is definitely high up there. The second steep is almost exactly the same in flavor. Western brewing is probably not the traditional way to go with this one, but it worked here. Very tasty!
Steep #1 // 15 minutes after boiling // 2 tsps. for 11 ounce mug // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // few min after boiling // 2 -3 min

A Gong Fu favourite that I am steeping Western style for a change. Not sure if that is pure insanity, but right now I feel like a large pot of tea to use with my pot warmer.

The raw leaves are: long and flat with light twists and stems present, dark brown/red brown in colour and bares a toasted hay and floral scent.

Once steeped the tea liquor is burnt orange, it has a toasted hay, floral and malt scent, somewhat matching it’s raw form.

Strength is medium. I can taste toasted flowers and earth, sweet malt, wood and a subtle hint of smoke. It is rather mellow and smooth, with each flavour blending in well together to create a toasted and earthy mist in my mouth that lingers.

As it cools it becomes a little sour though remains consistent in flavour and strength. Also slightly dry now in the after taste.

Overall: It’s very pleasant, reminds me a little of Oriental Beauty Oolong but more mild. The flavours were pure and quality of the leaves were nice. However, my taste of darker Oolongs such as this one comes from comparison and this will unfortunately not be memorable. I’m also aware it could be down to the steeping, as it did mention to fare well from Gongfu Steeps.

Sample size. This is nice, especially after heavy lunch. Roasted oolong, chestnuts, subtle sweetness. Would be perfect if they serve it in Chinese restaurant, many times tea is just gross there. I liked it.
Resteep was good and I decided to add tiny amt of maple syrup. Worked perfectly taming charcoal flavor.

Oh wow! exam tomorrow…. how do i do this quickly?

gong show week.
nevermind, gong show semester.
bought some zen teas because i’ve had to drop my caffeine… tried a chamomile blend? baaaaaaaaad call!
but they threw this is as a sample.
it’s amazing.

if my exam is half as amazing i’ll be very very happy!
BYE!